Playing With Irony
by Drop of Silence Jr
Summary: Fortune telling is one thing. Doing it with chakra is  another. Doubting was an initial mistake, now false assumptions is a  luxury she can't afford.  SaiSaku


**Playing With Irony**

_Summary_: Fortune telling is one thing. Doing it with chakra is another. Doubting was an initial mistake, now false assumptions is a luxury she can't afford. SaiSaku

Sakura found herself slouching so that she'd fit in the ridiculously tiny tent that should have just been an open stand. Her head barely brushed against the red cloth that served as the canopy filtered the sunlight oozed a red aura. Her knees soon grew numb from the poor spacing and a sheen layer of sweat began layering her skin due to the poor ventilation. Before her was a tiny table and a young girl expertly shuffling cards.

This was ridiculous.

Playing 'Fortune Teller' with one of Suna's kids wasn't really part of her afternoon plans...

The girl tapped the cards to align them before setting it before her in one clean deck.

Bored, Sakura raised a brow.

"What do you wanna know?"

She nibbled her cheek, deciding to play along since she really had nothing to do anything better.

"Should I stay a medic nin?"

"Do the cut"

And she did.

The girl took the halves and shuffled them some more before bringing the deck to her chest and did the basic chakra seal. Sakura couldn't help but roll her eyes, figuring that the girl had been probably been trying to sugar coat her magic show with something almost quite plausible.

Yet as the young girl smoothly laid the deck of cards with one hand, something about the action made her hair stand on end. A flicker of excitement flashed in her cousin's curious brown eyes.

Sakura shrugged.

"Draw four cards"

And so she did.

Sayuri, the girl, took the drawn cards and slid it towards her, face-down and took quick glances as if a hustler would at playing poker. A cheeky grin grew on the tiny girl's face before she began shuffling the whole deck of cards.

Sakura was about to protest, but Sayuri impatiently hushed her before demanding another three cards to be drawn out. This time the little girl giggled and shook her head as she held the cards to herself, eyeing them with content before sliding them in one pile and returning them to the thicker deck. Sakura leaned closer, "well?"

"Stay a medic nin," she assured, "it's a sure shot"

Her brows arched. "What happened to ANBU?"

"Medic nin"

"Or maybe--"

"Medic. Nin."

Sighing in defeat, Sakura slumped back and waved her hand at the young girl, "okay fine. So what'll it be? Medic in the ANBU? Dentist? What else is there?"

The little girl shrugged as she began packing her cards away. "I dunno, just a medic nin, and whatever it is medic nins do, but not a dentist"

"So," she hummed, "what else did you find?"

The little girl grinned, and turned to face her "boys" she crooned.

Intrigued, She probed for more answers, "You mean like boyfriends?"

The girl giggled and blushed and hurried out of the cramped tent. Sakura scrambled her way out, successfully knocking down the tent as she did so.

"Who'll be my first?" asked Sakura, seriously not bothering to help clean up the wreckage.

The young girl lazily waved her free hand, "Some pale guy"

Sasuke? She assumed excitedly. Maybe this was why she was better off as a medic nin, her chances of being with Sasuke might actually be higher that way.

"And then some determined, energetic guy"

Lee? She slightly fell disappointed with the idea that the green-clad spandex lad would replace her handsome Uchiha. Oh well, she decided that he might help her get over him. Though it would be a lie not to throw in the fact that she was visibly grimacing.

"But I like the guy who won't stop looking at you. He respects you greatly... And really loves you" the young girl's cheeks burned a bright red before she grabbed the cloth and tottered her way back in, leaving Sakura alone in the sandy frontyard, brooding over the things this kid told her.

Seriously, it was all just a game right?

The one she decided to play along with?so technically, she knew better than to hold on to a ten-year-old's imagination.

If that was the case, why did she suddenly lose all interest in pursuing a position in the ANBU corps? Why couldn't she help but wonder why Sasuke hadn't considered being an ANBU member yet?

But still, it felt nice to hang on to that ridiculous fantasy that Sasuke might be her first boyfriend... Even if that meant Lee was going to follow it up.

She shuddered.

A quick glance at a nearby store's wall clock was all it took for Sakura to start heading back to the Kazekage tower.

So if Sasuke would be her first guy and Lee her next... Who would be her third guy?

She sighed heavily, that little game was slowly starting to let fantasy feed on reality.

"Sakura?"

Her eyes snapped up from her deep reverie, the present seemed to buffer in her mind as she strained herself to quickly process the things she did on auto-pilot.

At that moment her mind seemed to have crashed as she erred her response. Perhaps it was the panic that ruined her calm, or the anxiety of falling blank before the Kazekage.

His keen emerald eyes didn't really help much, nor did his inanimate posture did her any good. Not to mention the eerie silence that continued to linger in his office. She yanked her floating head back to her neck and twisted its cogs to hopefully jumpstart her brain.

Why was she here?

What did she have to say?

...

Perhaps staring back wasn't also much of a good idea either, that second of eye contact felt like forever to Sakura. And so she focused on his forehead and just blabbered the first professional thing that rolled off her tongue, which would be: "Do you believe in destiny?"

XXX

A shower of hot green tea rained down on the wooden round table as Naruto choked and haphazardly tilted back on his barstool in his desperate attempt to regain his composure while Sai simply blinked as he stared emptily right at a crimson Sakura.

"Seriously Sakura," wheezed Naruto, "What were you thinking?!"

"Was she even thinking in the first place?" interjected Sai

"Of course I was!" hissed Sakura keeping her distance from the mess Naruto made on the table. Had Naruto spat any further, Sakura would have been given a reason to bash the blond silly with her fists. Unfortunately, the opportunity was cut short by a few inches.

"That's one of the stupidest questions I never even imagined you saying!" bawled Naruto

"Yeah, shut up," growled the poor kunoichi before she sliced a glance to her right where Sai unevenly stared back at her. "What?"

"Do you?"

Was he seriously trying to put 'her' on the spot?

"Of course not!" she straightened, sniffed and puffed her chest proudly.

"Excuse me," mumbled Naruto who had been furiously wiping his jacket and pants dry who later on decided thay it was best he headed for the washroom to get a better view of the spill instead of blindly fumbling about in the dark, unaware that he brought along Sakura's brave front, leaving her vulnerable before her teammate.

His silence intimidated her.

His gaze made her uneasy.

And even as he excused himself to the washroom, she couldn't help but worry over the idea that her sanity went with him.

Alone on the table, she slowly resumed her slouch.

For once, shouldn't she relish the hints to her future instead of dreading over its possibility? Perhaps if she tried to forget the day's events she could keep her head tight on a leash. She unconsciously hollered for the check and limply handed over the bill before crawling her way out of the moderately noisy tavern.

Perhaps she can get her brave front from Naruto tomorrow...

And her sanity?

Maybe when she's ready to face Sai's frank questions.

For now, she'll try to even the storm she's brewing with the unusual help of solitude.

* * *

So whaddya guys think?

Should I continue or end it here...?

do you guys like it..?  
O,o

please review~  
I need a piece of your mind;;  
u


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